Kingdom Hearts: Riku's Story
by falkundude
Summary: This is what riku was doing while sora was off saving the worlds chapter 9 Halloween Town is up!
1. Prolouge: Destiny Islands

Hi! This is my first fanfic, so be nice.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. All I own is the story you are about to read.

Kingdom Hearts: Reverse/Rebirth, Riku's Story 

Prologue:

"Sora you lazy bum!" Riku heard Kairi say. Sora was always slacking of, leaving him to do all the work. He walked up to Sora and Kairi on the beach and said, "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft! And you," he said to Kairi, "You're just as lazy as he is."

"So you noticed," she replied, "Alright, we'll finish it together! I'll race you!"

"What? Are you kidding?" Riku asked.

"One, two, three!" at three, Riku and Sora took off running along the beach. Kairi came far behind, laughing all the way.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were building a raft, so they could see what else there is in the world besides their island. Riku had already done his daily part, so he decided to take the day off. While he was lying on his tree, about an hour later, Sora walked up to him. Riku saw him and said, "Did find everything you needed for the raft, I already gave my stuff to Kairi.

Sora nodded and said, "Grab your sword!"

Riku replied, "This one decides the champion!"

Riku jumped off of the tree and grabbed his sword, and Sora took his out. Sora ran at Riku, who quickly parried his attack. Riku quickly counterattacked, swinging his sword fiercely, but Sora jumped backwards just in time and hit Riku with a hard swing to knock him down, but Riku retaliated with a fast pop-up kick to know Sora down.

"Oh, well. Better luck next time, Sora."

"Aw, man!"

(One Hour Later)

"Sora!"

"Yeah Riku? Huh?" Riku threw him what looked like a fruit.

"It's a paupu fruit. You wanted one didn't you?"

"Huh?"

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. Come on! I know you want to try it!"

"What're you talking about?"

The next day, Riku got up early and decided to look for food for the trip, so he went to the cove, where he knew that mushrooms grew there (He also packed some stuff from his house) about an hour later, Sora showed up.

"Hey Riku, what would you name the raft? I'd name it Excalibur."

"I'd name it Highwind. Hey, Sora, You want to race?"

"All right, first one to touch the tree and back. If I win, I'm captain, and if you win- "

"I get share a paupu with Kairi"

"Huh?"

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paupu with Kairi?"

"Hey, Wait a minute!"

That's when Kairi showed up. "Are you boys at it again?" all right, on my count. One, two three!"

They took of running, neither of them looking back, neither of them falling behind, but when when Sora took the regular route, Riku climbed the ladder and took the rope, almost all the way to the tree.

"All right! We're naming it Highwind!"

What was that all about?" Sora asked.

"Oh, the paupu thing? That was just a joke. Anyway, you better talk to Kairi."

(Later That Day)

Riku was just out, exploring the island, taking one last look before he left, and he found a small cave in the wall. "I remember this place," he said, "this is where me and Sora used to play when we were kids." He went inside, just to see it one last time, and he saw the door, the one that appeared the night of the meteor shower.

"Please, if you lead off of this island, open for me, because I can't wait to get out of here." After that, he went back to his house to get some rest.

(That Night)

A storm was coming towards the islands, and Riku saw it while in his room, and decided to go make sure that the raft would be okay. He figured that Sora and Kairi would be there too, so he took his boat, and went.

When he got there, the whole place was infested with these weird black creatures. Riku tried to fight them off, but to no avail. He decided to go look for Sora and Kairi.

"Riku!" he heard Sora yell.

"The Door has opened."

"Huh?"

"The Door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!"

"But what about Kairi!"

"Kairi's coming with us!" With that, Riku reached out his hand to sora, who tried to reach him, but the darkness engulfed both of them.

After that, Riku's life would never be the same.


	2. Chapter 1: Hollow Basion I

_The Door has opened…_

_Once we go there's no turning back…_

_I'm not afraid of the darkness! _

_Riku…_

Riku!

"Huh? What? What's going on? Was I dreaming?" Where am I?

"You're in my Castle!"

"What? Who's there?"

"It is I, Maleficent, Queen of Darkness!"

Riku looked at his surroundings and figured out that he was lying on a bed in an enormous bedroom.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" As he said this, a woman dressed in all black holding a staff appeared before him. "Are you Maleficent?" he asked.

"Yes, my dear boy, I am. And who are you, who arrived so oddly to my castle?"

"My name's Riku, and I don't know how I got here. The last thing I remember was my island being attacked by black creatures, and this big black hole and… wait a minute! What happened to Sora, and Kairi?"

"I honestly do not know what happened to your friends, but at least you're safe, right?"

"I guess so. So where are we anyway?"

"Why, this is my castle, Hollow Bastion. Have you not heard of it?"

"No, in fact, I've never even left my island. I don't know about anything else except my island."

"Oh, so your island is another world!"

"I guess so."

"Interesting."

_Meanwhile, in Traverse Town, Sora was starting his confrontation with Leon._

"Hey, Maleficent?" Riku asked, "do live alone in this castle?"

"Of course not, Riku, many of my loyal subjects reside in this castle. Of course, sometimes I send them off to do errands in other worlds. Speaking of errands, Riku, I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you t take my ship, in the basement, and fly to the Olympus Coliseum. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure."

"Okay, when you land, you will meet someone named Hades. I sent him there to retrieve something for me, and he hasn't brought it back yet, so I need you to help him get it. Oh, and if his dogs give you any trouble, just use this." She hands him a sword with a pronged blade. "It's called the Soul Eater."

"Soul Eater? That's a pretty grim name for a sword."

"You do know haw to use one, right?"

"Of course, but do I need to use a sword for? I mean they're just dogs."

"You'll see."

Riku went down to the gummi hanger wondering what she meant by that.

When Riku arrived at the Coliseum, it wasn't quite what he expected. Instead of seeing a battle coliseum, he saw a cave that was very dark. Instead of seeing stands of screaming fans, he saw an eerie black mist. He wondered if he was in the right place.

And then he saw it, the big black dog. It was huge. It was only after he noticed its size that he noticed the number of heads it had. 3. 3 big heads on one big dog.

"This is what she was talking about," he said to himself, as he took out his sword.

**You like it? Please review, thanks.**


	3. Chapter 2: Wonderland

_When Riku arrived at the Coliseum, it wasn't quite what he expected. Instead of seeing a battle coliseum, he saw a cave that was very dark. Instead of seeing stands of screaming fans, he saw an eerie black mist. He wondered if he was in the right place._

_And then he saw it, the big black dog. It was huge. It was only after he noticed its size that he noticed the number of heads it had. 3. 3 big heads on one big dog._

"_This is what she was talking about," he said to himself, as he took out his sword._

Riku jumped at one of the heads, attempting to hit it with the Soul Eater, when a flame emerged from its mouth. Riku tried to jump out of the way, but got burned on the arm.

"Damn!" Riku yelled. He realized that this was not going to be easy.

"Looks like you need some help," a voice said. Just then, 3 gunshots came out of the darkness; each one hit one of the heads, temporarily stunning the big dog. Riku took advantage of this and delivered the final blow to knock out the dog.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"That's no way to thank me for saving your life," the voice said. Just then, a man came out of the darkness, wearing a ragged red cape, and holding two triple barreled handguns. "The name's Vincent, and you handled that Cerberus pretty well."

"Thanks, but that was only because you helped."

"What are you doing in the Underworld any way, ummm…?"

"The name's Riku, and do you mean to tell me that this isn't the Coliseum?"

"You're right under it, and, if you're looking for Hades, you're in the right place."

"Thanks- wait, how did you know I was looking for Hades?"

"I can smell Maleficent on you. And besides, I recognize that sword anywhere."

"Oh, well which way is Hades' chamber?"

"That way," Vincent pointed to an extension of the cave, " but you should let me come with you, there are Heartless everywhere."

"Heartless?" Riku asked. Vincent just shook his head.

"You've got a lot to learn, kid."

_Meanwhile, Sora is just arriving at the Deep jungle._

While they were walking through the Underworld, Vincent started to explain the concept of darkness, the heartless, the worlds, and the missing Ansem Reports.

"Whoa, so where's this 'Key to the Light?'"

"I don't know, maybe Leon's found him, but we been in touch since…" Before he could finish his sentence, a bunch of heartless appeared all around them.

"These are the same creatures that attacked the islands!" Riku said.

"Do you want to get 'em back for what they did?"

"Of course!"

"Then COME ON!" Vincent started firing his guns at the surrounding Heartless. "Are you gonna help me or just stand there?" That's when Riku remembered his last day on the Island.

How he was looking forward to finally getting off that rock. He thought about what he said inside the secret place, how he had wished for a way to finally go somewhere else. Well, he got his wish, and now he wished he was back on the island with his friends. Right now he couldn't concentrate on the Heartless, only on the past.

"Riku, watch out!" just then, fire exploded out of the ground in every direction. "What happened Riku?"

"I don't know, I just sorta blanked." _Just like when the darkness surrounded the island, and all I did was stand there and watch it happen. I couldn't do anything about it._

"Hey, you two look like you're lost," Said a voice.

"How many disembodied voices am I going to hear today?" Riku asked.

"I was just asking a question." As this was said, a figure dressed in a black robe appeared out of thin air. "The name's Hades."

"Hades, my name's Riku, and I was sent by Maleficent to help you get something for her."

"Jeez, Maleficent's hiring kids now?"

"What did she ask you to get her?" Vincent asked.

"Just the heart of the resident hero, Hercules."

"Well, I guess that's a double bonus for you, Hades."

"Who's Hercules?" asked Riku.

"Hades' long time enemy, and warrior of the light. I can see why she wants his heart," he then turned his attention to Hades, "So, how are you going to do it?"

"Easy, with a little help from a bounty hunter who lost his light."

They all went back to Hades Chamber, and after a while, Vincent left, leaving Riku with Hades.

"Hey kid," Hades said, waving his arms around what appeared to be a cauldron, "You want to see something really cool?"

"What is it?" Riku asked.

"Check this out." With one wave of his hand, heartless all appeared out of nowhere, but they didn't do anything.

"What's going on?"

"Well, just in case to kid in my employment doesn't quite get the job done, I'll use these."

"You mean you can control the Heartless?"

"Yeah, but I don't really trust them. They're only a last resort. Anyway, just go back to Hallow Bastion and tell Maleficent that I got it covered."

"Alright." And with that, Riku departed for the gummi ship, all the while thinking to himself.

'What came over me back there? There's no way I could have handled that so calmly. I wasn't even scared or anything. I'm terrified of the dark, or at least I am now. And I still don't know where Sora and Kairi are. Maybe Maleficent will help me find them.'

And as Riku took off in the gummi ship, Sora was walking through the doors of the Coliseum.

**Once Again, Review! thanks**


	4. Chapter 3: Olympus Coliseum

All right, here is the next chapter 

**Once again, Review!**

When Riku arrived at Hallow Bastion, he went straight to the Cathedral. When he got there, he overheard Maleficent talking with some of her associates about someone who they called the "Keyblade Master." They described him as a young boy around Riku's age, from a distant world. One of them, who was dressed like a pirate, had said that he had expected the Key Master to be from Hallow Bastion, before the Heartless took over.

"A boy around my age, could it be? Nah!"

"Oh Riku!" Said Maleficent when she noticed Riku, "We didn't hear you arrive. Do you have my item?"

"Hades said he had it covered. I didn't want to bother him. By the way, who were you talking about?"

"A young boy who is the Keyblade's chosen Wielder. Some child from a small island world."

"That's Sora!" Riku exclaimed. _Wow, _he thought, _Sora is the Keyblade's chosen wielder? Now that's just not fair. Well, at least he's okay. "_Do you know where he is now_?"_

"I don't know exactly, but I suggest searching at Wonderland. You can take my ship again. In fact, I'll go with you."

So Riku went with Maleficent to Wonderland, arriving just after Sora did. When they arrived, Sora was searching for evidence to prove Alice's innocence.

"Riku, why don't you check in the forest?" So, Riku went to the forest, just in time to miss Sora coming back to the Kingdom.

"Sora! Sora! Are you there? Hello?"

"Your friend's not here, only darkness."

"Darkness? Huh, Who's there?"

"Everyone, and no one, it's really a mystery."

"Why don't you start making some sense? Who are you?"

"You didn't ask that before. I am the Cheshire Cat. Pleased to meet you." The cat then revealed itself.

"What do you mean by 'Only Darkness?'"

"Oh, yes, the darkness here is overwhelming! I'd watch out if I were you!" just then, the cat disappeared, an in its place, a bunch of Heartless appeared.

_Why can't I move every time I see these guys? Is it the guilt? _Whatever it was, Riku got over it for long enough to decide to defend himself. He was fighting for what felt like a really long time, but was only a couple of minutes. After he killed a bunch of them, they all disappeared, and a giant centipede took their place. Riku checked to see if it was friendly, but that was before he saw the insignia of the Heartless on the worm's chest. Immediately, the Centipede attacked. Riku defended, and fought back. He swung his sword at it, but it just bounced off.

"Damn it!" he said. He knew that physical attacks would be useless, which meant that he was screwed, because he didn't know how to use magic. He thought of a magician who he used to watch on the islands.

"Fire!" he yelled. As he said this, he pointed his sword at the giant Heartless, and a giant plume of fire flew from it, striking the Heartless and killing it instantly.

Riku was out of breath when Maleficent appeared next to him. "Did you find your friend?" she asked.

"No, all I found was trouble."

"Well, I found exactly what I was looking for. Come on, it's obvious that Sora's not here." Maleficent knew that the exact opposite was true, but she didn't want them to meet yet. Riku was too tired to question what Maleficent meant by 'I found exactly what I was looking for.' Plus, he was too worried about Sora and Kairi to pay any attention/

"All right, let's get out of here. That cat gives me the creeps."

The next day, Riku went to the Cathedral from his room, and overheard Maleficent talking about Sora again.

"I can't believe he took out that heartless!" one voice said.

_Sora took out a Heartless? Yeah right._

"But he wields the Keyblade. The child's strength is not his own." Another said.

"And his friends are the King's lackeys. They're all bilge rats, by the look of them." The Pirate said.

"You're no prize yourself." A fourth said.

"But the boy found one of the Keyholes." The second voice said again

"It's okay, he's no threat to us. Besides, everything is going exactly as planned…

I hope you liked it! Please review! Thanks! 


	5. Chapter 4: Traverse Town

Sorry it took so long, but I've been held up with homework and stuff. Well, anyway, please review!

"_But the boy found one of the Keyholes." The second voice said again_

"_It's okay, he's no threat to us. Besides, everything is going exactly as planned…_

"Maleficent!" Riku said.

"The Boy is here!" The Pirate said. "What if he overheard us?"

"Relax," Maleficent said, "Even if he did, there's nothing he could do about it."

"Maleficent, where are Sora and Kairi? Have you found them yet?"

"As a matter of fact, we've found the boy."

"Really? Where is he?"

"Right now, we believe he's in a place called Traverse Town."

"Well, can you take me there?"

"I will, but I promise you that you won't like what you'll see."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Now, I know I way to get there faster than a vessel but it's very risky, are you sure you want to do it?"

"Anything to find my friends."

"Alright then, here we go"

Just then, a portal of darkness opened up in the middle of the room. Maleficent, saying, "Follow me," walked in. for the first time since Destiny Islands, he was feeling afraid. Not of the portal itself, but of the dark.

_No, I'm not afraid. I have to find them. _He thought to himself, and he walked into the portal.

Now, when Riku arrived in Traverse Town, he expected to see a town bustling with activity, and a lot of people. Instead, he found a town almost completely deserted.

"Where is everyone?" Riku asked.

"They're hiding… from the heartless." She said, and she slowly started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some business to take care of. If I were you, I'd start looking for Sora in the Third District." And without another word, she walked away.

After a few minutes, Riku found a door marked, "Third District." He entered, and as he did, a loud bell rang one time. Riku looked around, and he saw, coming out of a door with a flame on it, someone very familiar to him.

"Is that?" the person said, "Riku?"

"Hey, Sora, long time no see!" Riku responded.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, "It's really you!" he then proceeded to touch Riku's face in unusual ways.

"Sora, what're you doing?"

"So, you're real, I'm not dreaming?"

"I hope not, it took me forever to find you."

"Well, where's Kairi?"

"Isn't she with you? Well, then we'll look for her together. Just leave everything to me." As he said this, as if on cue, a shadow emerged from the ground taking the form of a heartless. Sora proceeded to kill it.

"Leave it to who?" he asked" All right, Riku, come with us! We've got this awesome rocket!"

"No!" One of Sora's companions who Riku hadn't noticed until then said, "He can't come!"

"What? Why not?!"

"We need to find the King!" As they were bickering, Riku decided to start looking for Kairi, since this obviously wasn't worth his time. So, he walked away.

_At least he's all right, _he thought to himself. He went back to the second district, hoping to see Maleficent there. She was, and Riku said, "let's go."

"Wait," she said, "It's almost here." As she said this, a giant suit of armor appeared, which wouldn't have been as surprising, except that it was empty.

"A heartless? How did this get here?"

"I sent for it. I wanted to see how strong you were. I mean you easily defeated the one in Wonderland. Well, good luck!"

"I hate it when she does that." He said to himself. The heartless attacked him, and he evaded it and attacked it, hitting it in the head. "Damn, no good!" he said. All of a sudden, a blade came out of nowhere, and struck the heartless, taking it down, but not destroying it.

"Need some help?" a voice said.

"Yeah, I could use some."

"My name's Paine, and yes, I'm a girl." She put her sword up in the air, which confused Riku.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Waiting."

"For what?"

"That." Riku turned around. The armor was back on its feet, but they weren't really its feet. It was standing on its hands, upside down like feet. Its real feet were at its side, closed like hands. "This is its true form." She said.

Riku attacked it, hitting one of its hands (or feet) and instantly destroyed it.

_Wow_, Paine thought, _that's the same darkness that took Ansem. But it looks like he can control it. I wonder…_

She didn't have enough time to voice her opinion, however, because the Armor had thrown a blast of darkness at her. She sliced right through it, and then attacked the body. Nothing. But, it was enough of a distraction for Riku to come up and slice the body completely in half, destroying it completely.

"Just leave it to me." He said. "Hey, Paine, are you with Leon and Vincent?"

"I work alone." And just like that, she was gone.

Riku walked away, and he saw a room. He saw six people in the room. He recognized four: Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Leon. The other two were girls that he didn't know. They were talking, and laughing, and having a good time.

"See, it's just like I told you." Maleficent said, appearing out of nowhere. "Instead of worrying about you, he simply replaced you, with new friends. Now, did you really think he would spend all that time looking for you? Come with me, and I will treat like he should have."

It was like he was possessed, because instead of saying what he wanted to say, he just said, "Yes, Maleficent." And they both disappeared into the darkness.

**Well, What do you think? Kinda long, huh? **


	6. Chapter 5: Agrabah

-1First of all, I would like to thank everyone for reviewing this fic (irony) 6 REVIEWS, WOOHOO! Sorry.

Second, I'm really really REALLY sorry that it's so late, but for a while I just lost interest, plus homework, and I was gone for Christmas, you now.

Well, here it is, the much anticipated (HA!) next chapter of Riku's Story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this story (shut up and get to the action!)

After returning to Hollow Bastion, Maleficent looked at Riku, who looked sad.

"what's wrong, Riku?' she asked.

"I can't believe it! Why would he do that to me? I thought we were friends!"

"That's just it: you WERE friends. He obviously doesn't feel that way anymore. He feels superior because he has the Keyblade. But don't worry, I'm sure anyone can see that you're the stronger of the two, Keyblade or not!"

"Whatever. And what about Kairi? We still haven't found her yet."

"What if she feels the same as Sora?"

"No, Kairi's different! She won't just have replaced me. I know it."

"Well, if you feel so strongly about it, then I think there is someone who can help you."

"Really? Who?"

"His name is Jafar, and he lives in a world called Agrabah. I will go there and inform him of your arrival. Meanwhile, you go prepare yourself. I want you to be as strong as you can, because I've heard that there is something in that world that is almost indestructible and will attack almost anything in its path. I've heard that it's a heartless."

"okay, then I'll practice. If it's a heartless, then it better wish it doesn't run into me."

So, maleficent travels to Agrabah to inform Jafar of Riku's arrival, only to discover that the princess of that world has escaped. She remembers that Riku's power has grown extensively, so she begins to think.

Meanwhile, Riku exits the castle, where there is a large number of heartless outside.

"if I can't kill every single one of you, then I won't be able to kill the heartless in Agrabah."

So, he begins to attack the heartless, being careful to parry their shield attacks. As he's fighting them, he notices that his attacks are getting stronger, even though he's not swinging any harder. He also saw faint but visible aura surrounding himself and his sword. For a moment, the heartless were too afraid to approach him. _Is this the power of darkness? _He thought. _ha, it must be, because the heartless are even more afraid of me than Sora. _ At the same time, however, he was wondering if the darkness was a safe weapon to wield. _could this possibly be hurting me as well as my enemy?_ he quickly dismissed the thought, for at that moment, a wizard attacked him, probably at of fear. Riku destroyed it with one swing.

"Who's next?!"

About an hour later, after Riku had finished off all of the heartless, maleficent came to him and told him that they were ready to head to Agrabah. They chose to use the darkness, and this time Riku was more comfortable with it. They arrived in Agrabah, and met up with Jafar.

"this is the boy I was telling you about." Maleficent said to Jafar.

"ah, the one from the island. Don't worry, I'll tell him he needs to know."

"Riku," Maleficent turned her attention to him. "You have to listen to Jafar now, he may not look it, but is far more powerful than you or Sora."

"I get it" he responded.

And with that, she departed.

"so, what's next?' Riku asked.

"right now, you should go to the cave of wonders. It's outside the city; Iago will lead you there."

"and you?"

"I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Riku basically had no choice, so he went with Iago to the cave of wonders.

"so, I suppose he takes care of you?" Riku asked the multicolored bird.

"He feeds me… sometimes. Usually it's just 'stop wasting time Iago!' or 'no, don't eat that Iago!' come to think of it, he doesn't do much for me at all."

"So, you're his slave?"

"No!… I think."

This conversation soon ended because they had arrived at the cave of wonders. They didn't have to wait a while because Jafar joined joined them, with a burlap sack that had legs coming out of it that were kicking madly in the air.

"who's in there?" Riku asked.

"My boy, do you know why we're here?"

"To find the keyhole?"

"Yes, but we have an alternative motive, a VERY annoying one. We have to take this princess to the castle."

"Do you want to know the truth?"

At this point, Riku didn't care if it was an evil motive or not. He had sworn that he would do anything, ANYTHING, to find Kairi, but, still, he answered."

"Yes."

"Maleficent needs all seven princesses of heart to open the final keyhole of Hollow Bastion. If she can do that, then she can shroud all of the worlds in Darkness, almost simultaneously. That's the real reason we are here. The girl in this bag in princess number six."

"Where is the seventh?"

"We don't know."

"And the keyhole?"

"Is located somewhere within the Cave of Wonders."

"then let's go. Oh, and I'll make sure we're not followed."

With that, he pointed his hand at the eyes of the lion-head, and the started to glow with dark energy. Jafar, following suit, made heartless appear out of thin air and gave them the order to not let anyone at all into the cave.

"That should keep Sora busy for a while, let's go." and then they entered the cave.

Inside was mounds upon mounds of treasure, but Riku wasn't greedy, much.

"Don't get any ideas, boy, if one who is not the chosen one touches any of the treasure, the cave will collapse and return to sand, forever."

"Fine, I won't touch."

When they arrived at a spot that Jafar saw to be adequate, he took out an old Arabian lamp and rubbed it saying:

"Genie! My second wish, show me the keyhole!"

As he said this, a floating blue figure emerged from the lamp, pointed at one of the walls and the wall faded away, revealing a giant keyhole.

"And now, this is the part where I double cross you!" said Jafar.

"What?!" said Riku, pulling out his sword.

"you see, I'm tired of being ordered around by Maleficent, so since you're an agent of hers, I'll destroy you, and keep the princess for myself." And in saying this, he zapped Riku with a bolt of lightning from his staff that sent Riku flying across the room

"JAFAR!!!" they both this cry. Riku didn't recognize the one who said it, but he recognized the person standing next to him: Sora, Donald, and goofy. Riku stood up and used his darkness powers to faze through the wall, and then again on his eyes to see through it. He wanted to see who was stronger, Sora or Jafar. After fighting for a few minutes and realizing the futility in it, Jafar made the biggest mistake of his life; he wished to become a genie. Sora and the others left jasmine in a safe place where she wouldn't get hurt (which happened to be right in front of the wall Riku was behind) and they left to fight Jafar. _This is my chance_ he thought, _if I capture the princess, then Maleficent will help me find Kairi for sure. But his means I won't get to see how it ends. And I really wanted to fight the strong heartless. Oh well, I'm rooting for you Sora!" _He came out of the wall, grabbed the princess, and using the darkness powers, transported to hollow Bastion.

"Riku! I see you've brought me the princess! Where's Jafar?" Maleficent greeted him.

"There was a change in plans. He stayed behind to fight Sora, but only after sharing his plans to betray you to me."

"Well, then he'll not be mourned. And the princess, is she alive? We need her alive."

"Don't worry, she's just unconscious. Now, where is Kairi?"

Once again, sorry for the lateness. Now, review, and be on the lookout for the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 6: Monstro

Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blah…

Author's Note: I haven't played the game in a while, so some of the parts in this next chapter may be inaccurate, but hey, it's a fanfic.

"Don't worry, she's just unconscious. Now, where is Kairi?"

"We have found her. She is somewhere in Neverland. Hook was just there, but I have bad news, it seems that her heart has been taken by the heartless. Now, I have something I want to show you."

They entered the chapel, but it was still the same plain room that it always was. This was the room where maleficent had always conducted her meetings with her clients, such as Jafar.

"What are we doing here?" Riku asked.

"Just wait a moment."

Maleficent pointed her hand towards the wall and a small part of it disappeared, revealing a secret passageway. "No one else knows about this place and I intend to keep it that way. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Maleficent."

"Good."

And with that, they walked into the hallway, leading them to a huge room on either side of the hall were three young women, each were frozen in suspended animation..

"Are these the princesses?"

"Yes, on this side are Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora. On the other side are Belle-"

"…Jasmine and Alice, the ones I helped capture."

Riku began to have second thoughts about this whole thing, but with the thought of Kairi he quickly dismissed the thought, because it was replaced with a new one: _Kairi, I promise, here and I now, that I will do what ever it takes to find you. _Then, aloud, he said, "Maleficent, take me to Neverland."

"Yes, but first, I have to meet with all of my associates that have not been… defeated by that boy. You're friend's pretty strong for a boy, but his power is not his, but of the Keyblade. Riku, I'm going to let you in on a secret. Sora is not the true Master of the Keyblade."

"What? Then why does he have it?"

"He was simply chosen by the Keyblade to deliver it to the true master, which is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, but the Keyblade is waiting for the right moment, when your heart is at its strongest. Now, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll be back shortly."

She exited the long hallway, back into the chapel. She was going to meet with Oogie, hook, and Ursula, but up until now, hook had not arrived.

"There you are Maleficent! You were taking so long, we thought something bad had happened." Ursula said as Maleficent entered.

"Quite the contrary, the mission was a success."

"But the keyhole was locked, and the boy let Sora get away, and he defeated Jafar."

Riku, who was listening, broke in, and said: "Hey, I got the princess, alright?!"

"Riku's Right. He did what he what supposed to do, and that is all." Responded Maleficent. "So, this meting is adjourned, and Riku, I have arranged transportation for you."

"Yes," a voice said. "But it's not going to be smooth ride." It was Captain Hook.

"Alright. Riku responded.

After Spending a few hours on Capt. Hook's ship, and being very bored, Riku heard Mr. Smee say: Look out!" in an instant a giant whale flew over them.

"What was that?" Riku asked.

"That be the legendary world-eater, Monstro. I've heard many a tale of how he devoured sailor's ships, even entire worlds, with one gulp."

"We have to stop."

"Are you crazy? Do you want it to eat us?"

"Yes, because Sora's on there. And I think I found a way to save Kairi."

"Fine, you go. We'll stay here."

Riku used the darkness to get inside Monstro, and he appeared in a multicolored chamber. The walls were slimy, and they moved, because, of course, they were alive. The entire chamber was covered with debris from the different ships that Monstro had eaten. _Now, where is Sora? _He chose the first hallway he saw and went through it. He ended up in what looked the mouth. There was more debris here, and even a completely intact boat. In the boat, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were talking to an old man, most likely the owner of this boat. Outside the boat, but staying close by, was a wooden puppet, but it was alive, and it looked it was playing. _That must have been what I sensed before. He doesn't need his heart very much, does he?_ "Hey, you!" he said to the puppet."

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

"Pinocchio."

"You want to play, Pinocchio?'

"Yeah!"

"Shh. We don't want them to hear us. Come on." So, he lured Pinocchio into the chamber." Just as they entered the chamber, a bunch of heartless appeared.

"Mr., I'm scared!"

"Don't worry, just stay close to me." Riku began to attack the heartless, but they kept coming. So, he had to resort to using the darkness. His sword, and soon himself, started glowing a purplish black. _Is the darkness becoming more powerful?_ The Aura around him had never been that dark, and it had never been that big before. Indeed, the darkness was growing and becoming more powerful by the second, but so was his ability to wield it. He struck at a heartless, and it was destroyed. The remaining heartless attacked him at once, assuming their odds were better that way. Riku jumped in the air, and started spinning, striking the heartless with each spin. On the final spin, he released a wave of darkness energy at them, destroying all of the heartless.

"Wow, Mr., you're really strong. What's your name?"

"My name's Riku."

"You must be the strongest ever."

"Yeah-" but he was interrupted.

"Pinocchio!" He heard a familiar voice. Sora and his dumb friends had finally noticed he was missing.

"Come out, Pinocchio, this is no time for games!"

"But Sora, I though you liked games! Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?"

"Riku!"

"Come on, Pinocchio, let's go play." And the descended further into the throat. He hoped that they wouldn't meet up with any more heartless, because that attack had left him somewhat drained. _Damn! That took more out of me than I thought! I better try to restrict my magic usage. The Darkness might be too strong for me. Now, where is it?_ By it, he meant the giant heartless he sensed. He sensed something huge that was trying to turn Monstro into a heartless, but he couldn't let that happen, because if it was turned into a heartless while they were still inside, who knows what would happen to them. Besides, he still needed to extract the heart, which would take time.

"Mr. Riku, let's play." Pinocchio said.

"Sorry, I'm tired." _This kid, he's a lot like Sora when we were younger. We were really good friends back then. What happened? _To both Sora and Riku, it felt like they had been friends an eternity ago, but neither could remember how long it had been since their island had been destroyed.

After doing a lot of walking, they found it. A Huge Bug-like thing with a cage in its stomach and the heartless insignia on its head, a sign he had grown to hate. It only took a few seconds for Sora and his **new** friends to arrive. _Huh, it's funny. Me, Sora, and a monster. It's almost like… _He thought back to that day, the day that Kairi had arrived. Sora came to him, with a look of fear on his face. He had said:

"Riku! There's a monster in the secret cave, I know there is!"

"A monster!?"

"Yeah! Could you kill it for me?" Riku had agreed, so they went to the secret place to find the monster. When they went in, however, all they had found were a bunch of plants.

"There's no monster in here. It was probably just your imagination."

"Aww, I wanted to fight a monster!"

"But didn't you ask me to kill it for you?"

"Hee hee. Yeah. Hey, I heard there's a new girl on the island and that she's staying at the mayor's house!"

'Yeah, let's go visit her!" As Riku had said this, Sora had gone off, but Riku had stayed, because he saw something. It was a door. And on the door, there was a large keyhole. "Hey, what's?.. Never mind." And he went out of the cave, following Sora."

"Riku!" It was Sora. Riku had snapped back to reality, and saw that the Heartless had kidnapped Pinocchio. "Are you gonna do something, or are you just going to stand there?!"

"Hey, Sora, let's take this thing down, for old times sakes!"

"All right! Now that's the Riku I know." So, together, they began to attack, but every time they got close to it, their attacks would either bounce off of it or it would blast them away with its acid breath.

_Damn, I can't get close to it to hit it, and I still don't have enough energy to use magic. _Then, to Sora, he said, "This is going to tough!"

"Yeah!" Sora responded. He stuck his Keyblade in the air, and instantly a gust of wind surrounded him, protecting him. "That's why it's fun!" Then, he smiled, and Riku couldn't help but smiling too. Sora had given him the strength he needed. He mustered up enough energy to shoot a ball of dark firaga at the heartless, leaving it open for Sora to deliver the final blow. The heartless roared in pain, and dropped Pinocchio out of its cage, but it was not yet defeated. It ran away down a hole in the floor. _Why did I ever believe that Sora could have just replaced me? _Riku thought, as he helped Pinocchio up. _I mean he said he spent a while looking for me, and I believe him._ "Donald, Goofy, are you all right?" Sora said. _Oh yeah, that's how. Instead of asking me he asked first about them. He has replaced me with new friends._

He then grabbed Pinocchio and said, "Hey Sora, come and get me!" and he jumped down the hole. The hole led to Monstro's mouth.

From there, he took Pinocchio into another hallway, but before he could go in, he heard:

"Please don't take my Pinocchio!"

"Sorry old man, but I still have some use for this puppet."

"That's not a puppet, that's my son!"

"Still, it is interesting, not many puppets have hearts. Maybe it can be used to save someone else. Someone who's lost theirs."

"Wait," Sora joined the conversation, "Are you talking about Kairi?"

"What do you care about her?" and with that, Riku entered the hallway, which led directly to the stomach of Monstro. Pinocchio stayed unconscious. Riku had no idea what to do with it. Then, he was again interrupted by Sora.

"Riku! Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"

"A puppet with no heart, could it be used to save Kairi? Sora, join forces me! Let's save her together!"

"It may not have a heart, but at least it still has a conscience, and although you may not always hear it, right now it's loud and clear, and it's telling me that what you're doing is wrong!" Sora then pulled out his Keyblade and got into a battle stance.

"You'd rather fight me, over a puppet that has no heart?" With Sora's unyielding stance, he already knew the answer. But, before he could do anything, the parasite cage heartless came from above and attacked. Riku used the darkness to return to the ship and leave the heartless to Sora. When he arrived on deck, maleficent was waiting for him.

"Why do you still care about that boy?" she asked.

"I don't!" he responded, "I was just messing with him a little, that's all."

"Well, would you like to see your beloved Kairi?"

"More than anything." He responded.

"Then, follow me."


	8. Chapter 7: Atlantica

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts; Square Enix and Disney do (if I did I would make them better than they already are) alas, all I own is this measly story.

Note: This is the chapter where Riku visits Atlantica, but I've decided to keep it on shore, and above water. So, sorry, ladies (and some guys, you know who you are) but there will be no topless merman Riku.

Maleficent led Riku into the captain's chamber, and he saw her, just laying there. Kairi. _So, it's true. _Riku thought. _Her heart really was claimed by the heartless. Kairi, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let this happen to you._ A single tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly caught himself, and wiped it off. _No! I'm stronger than this!_ "Is there any way to save her; to return her heart back to the way it was?"

"Well, there is one way, but it involves advanced darkness, something I am not yet capable of. But, if we work together we can accomplish this."

"Anything." Was Riku's one-worded response.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'll do anything to bring her back."

"Well then, you'll start by capturing the final princess. I expect that she's in Atlantica, but our captain seems to believe she's in Neverland, so, we'll stop at Atlantica first."

After a long period of time, they arrived at Atlantica, but, much to everyone's surprise, Riku was ordered to stay with the ship, and if he was to go ashore, to stay on the beach, when just an hour ago, he was told to capture the final princess. Something was amuck. After thinking it over, he decided to obey maleficent's orders and go ashore to the beach. He felt like he was back home. _The air smells the same. _He thought. _Salty and humid. Not the best combination, but just like I remember. I maybe maleficent wanted this to happen, as a gift to me, she knows I came from an island. _He walked closer to the water's edge and knelt down, so he could feel the water. He felt the water wash over him, and he stood there for several minutes.

"You know," a voice interrupted him, and Riku turned around, "Most people don't like the water at this temperature, one touch and they scream out 'it's cold!' Funny, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I grew up on an island, and the water was just like this. I think it's perfect."

"It is perfect. My name's Yuna, by the way."

"Riku."

"Nice to meet you, Riku."

"Likewise." They talked for a while, and both of them had very similar childhoods. They both lived by the beach their lives. Riku left the part about everything recent secret.

"What island are you from? 'Cause I haven't seen you around here before."

"Destiny Islands." He answered politely.

"Oh? Then how come you don't have a Keyblade?"

"That's what Leon said. He said that the sole survivor from Destiny Islands was the chosen wielder of the Keyblade."

"No, that's Sora, I'm his friend. We used to inseparable, but something happened.

"Yeah, Paine talked about you, too. She said you were one of the strongest warriors she had ever seen. That means you two met."

"Yeah, she helped me defeat this giant heartless in Traverse Town."

"Well, she said you helped her. That Paine. We grew up together. Me, Paine, and Rikku. Yeah, we were like sisters, then Paine had to leave after the Heartless…" Sadly, their conversation had to be interrupted, for as they were talking, heartless came out of the water. These were not like the heartless Riku had fought before. They had webbed feet, and propellers on their backs.

"Should we?" Yuna asked.

"Why not?" Riku answered. He took out his sword, and she took out her staff. They began to fight back the heartless. Riku took one out, then another. He watched Yuna take tem out with expert skill. But there were too many, and they soon overwhelmed her. "Yuna!" Riku cried out.

But Yuna wasn't worried. She slowly took something out of her belt, and pointed them at the heartless. They were two guns, and she immediately opened fire on the heartless, taking out all of the surrounding heartless. "Don't worry," she told Riku, "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. But there are a little too many, what do you say we tip the odds a little more in our favor?" She stuck her staff in the ground, and Riku and the heartless stood there dumbfounded.

After about a minute, a blue light was emitting from the staff, and a circle with the same design as her staff appeared on the sand, and then there was a bright flash of light. After the flash, a giant, floating, great white shark appeared. "'Ello, Yuna. You look like you need some help."

"Hey, Bruce. Yeah, it's those damn heartless again. You think you could take care of them for us?"

"Gladly." He responded, and proceeded to attack the heartless.

"I'm a sumoner, so I can summon creatures who chose to aid me." Riku stood there for a second, and then decided to finish it off while he had the chance. While Bruce was attacking the heartless, Riku cast Dark Firaga on them, destroying them completely. "What the hell was that?"

"I guess Paine didn't tell you about that."

"About what?! What did you do?"

"I have been taught by Maleficent how to control the darkness, and use it as a weapon."

_Just like Ansem._ Thought Yuna. "I hope you can help her, Kairi, I mean." And she handed him a pedant with a shark painted on it. 'I want you to have this."

"What is it?"

"Use to summon Bruce, whenever you need his help, just call him out."

"Thanks."

"Good luck." And she smiled. And Riku saw something. He saw Kairi's smile reflected in Yuna.

_Whatever it takes._ And a Yuna could see a tear run down his face.

"Yuna!" another voice called, "I heard the Heartless attacked again! Are you okay?"

"It's okay, Rikku, everything's fine. Then, she turned to Riku and whispered, "Goodbye." Riku took off running down the beach back towards the ship.

"Who was that?" asked Rikku.

"A brave kid who really has no idea of all the trouble he's going to get into, just for a girl."

"That sounds like someone we know."

Riku arrived at the ship panting, and the second he arrived, still out of breath, he asked, "Is Maleficent back yet?"

"I'm right here." She was just arriving.

"Was she here? Did you bring her?"

"No, it was a princess, but not the right one. Well, captain, we can now head to Neverland. So, they boarded the ship, and departed.

So, what'd you think? If you want to know who they are talking about at the end, you'll have to ply FFX.

So, Riku and Yuna had a moment, huh? Will that come up in later chapters? And yes, Bruce has some importance later on.


	9. Chapter 8: Neverland

Disclaimer: who reads this crap?

Note: sorry it took so long. Once again, I lost interest. Okay, some of the details of this chapter might be different than it should. I haven't played khI in a while, and I don't plan on getting all the way to neverland in one day.

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Riku was in his room on the ship, when he heard Smee through the little horn communication thing. "Riku, umm, Maleficent would like to see you. That is all."

"Huh." said Riku. "I guess she's not going to let me get any sleep." he got up and walked through the maze that was the ship's hold. He finally arrived at Maleficent's room, and opened the door. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes, come in." the witch responded.

Riku took a few steps forward, when he noticed that his shoelace was untied wtf? Three things that aren't supposed to happen: they eat, go to the bathroom, and tie their shoes! "Damn." he said, and he bent down to tie it. When he did, the shark pendant slipped out from under his shirt.

"Where did you get that?" asked Maleficent.

Riku didn't want to tell Maleficent about the summon gem, so he quickly thought up a lie, now he was pretty content with: "I, uh, found it on the beach, one of the heartless dropped it. I think it picked it up from one of the locals. Looks cool, huh?"

Maleficent didn't say anything more. She new perfectly well what it was, but she really didn't care where or how he got it. No doubt one of the locals gave it to him.

"So," started Riku, "what did you want to see me about?"

"Oh, yes, come closer Riku. I'm about to give you a power that you couldn't even reach in your wildest dreams: The power to CONTROL THE HEARTLESS!" as she said (or yelled) this, Riku became aware of an aura surrounding him, followed by a feeling of immense power flowing throughout his body. He was unable to speak, he just smiled slyly, basking in his own power.

A few hours later, he woke up in his bed. "what happened?" he said to himself. "oh, right, the darkness."

"We have found a small vessel flying nearby," he heard over the intercom, "should we intercept?"

"Yes," he heard Maleficent's voice also.

"Also, we've arrived in Neverland."

Riku got up from where he was sitting on his bed and went to the intercom. "Weigh anchor." he said.

Riku went up to the deck, and saw that in the time it took him to get there, Sora's friends, Donald and Goofy, were thrown into the brig, but Sora still lay on the deck. He looked to his side, and all he saw was endless water.

"Where's Maleficent and Hook?" he asked Smee.

"Uhh, they went to the city to find one of the princesses, but from there, Maleficent won't be returning." After waiting a while, Hook had returned with the girl who he assumed to be the princess. Sora still had not awakened.

"Take her to the brig, but in a separate cell from Sora's friends. We don't want them getting any ideas." he said to the heartless that had just appeared. They nodded and took the unconscious Wendy to the brig. By now, Riku was bored. Sora was still sleeping, and there was zero activity from his friends. After waiting a few more minutes, however, his boredom was ended. Sora had finally woken up.

"Uhh, where am I?" asked the half-asleep Sora.

"I see you're finally awake." said Riku, "took you long enough."

"Riku? Where are we? Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about…her." he stepped to the side, revealing the Heart-less body of Kairi, lying limp on the floor, to Sora.

"Kairi!" he exclaimed. "What did you do to her?"

"Her heart has been taken by the heartless." he snapped his fingers, and heartless appeared all around him. "The Heartless obey me now, and by getting help from the darkness, I will be able to bring her back. I've also learned a new trick." as he said this, a stuck out his hand, and a dark version appeared, and stood hovering in front of him."

"You're stupid! The darkness will devour your heart!"

"My heart's too strong, but if you really care about your friends, why don't you join them?" he signaled to Smee, who Pulled a lever, causing Sora to fall through a trap door into the brig. "Put her with the other girl, Wendy." He said, and he walked into the captain's room, the heartless behind him.

"Do you think it's wise to keep him on this ship?" asked Hook, "After all, he is the key-bearer."

"Don't worry," responded Riku, "In a few moments, Maleficent will return, approving whether or not you got the right girl, and then we'll go back to hollow bastion, leaving those three fools here in the middle of the Ocean." Then, as if on que, as soon as Hook left the room, Maleficent appeared.

"well, I see that Sora has arrived."

"yes, and Hook actually captured the Princess. And I thought he was just incompetent Sailor."

"you're not wrong. He captured the wrong girl. Once again, we have been unsuccessful in finding the seventh princess. I wonder if this is possible."

"so, should I tell him?"

"Yes, and put her back. We shouldn't meddle any more. It's not necessary." after she said this, she walked through a hole in the darkness, and was gone. Following her departure, Riku left the room in order to find Hook, and give him the news.

"What?! What do you mean she's not the princess?" asked Hook, when Riku gave him the news.

"That's what maleficent said. She's not the one."

"Well, what do we do with her, then?"

"Put her back, or, when we leave, leave her here."

"After all of the trouble of capturing her?" Hook couldn't believe it, but he had no choice.

"Captain!" said Mr. Smee, "There's some movement in the hold!"

"Take care of him" said Riku to Hook.

"Why should **_I_**? the hold is crawling with Heartless, let them handle the job." Riku knew the heartless wouldn't be a match for Sora. Hook was a fool, a fool who deserved to be destroyed, and he knew just the one to do it. "Bring her to me." he was talking about Kairi.

It took Sora no time to reach the cabin, and when he did, Riku made sure Sora had company.

"Riku!" Sora said. Riku called upon the dark form of Sora to fight, and holding Kairi, used the darkness to get out of there.

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Riku came out of the darkness at the clock tower.

"God…" he said. "I really just need to take a break from al of this. First the heartless destroy my island, now I can control them!? Man, the irony is unbelievable. Now, I can't fight them, there's no point." after just sitting there, he heard a noise, like a curtain blowing in the wind. It took him a few seconds to realize that it wasn't a curtain, but a robe. He looked up, and he saw an aura of darkness unlike any he had seen before. To a regular eye, it would just be a floating cloak with a heart in the middle, but Riku could see its dark embodiment. Riku attempted to control it, make it disappear or something, but it just floated there. After a while, it attacked, and it looked like it was after Kairi.

Riku jumped off of the clock tower and took out his sword to attack. His sword "hit," but it just went though. "Damn! It's like a ghost or something." said Riku. He was desperately trying to get its attention, for it was getting closer and closer to Kairi. So, he shot a magic fire-ball out of his sword. The plume appeared, and went hurtling toward the phantom heartless, striking it on the back. "Yes!" exclaimed Riku. "Uh-oh." he saw that he had angered the heartless, and now it was moving towards him.

"Damn, this would be a good time for you to listen to me!" he said, shooting fireball after fireball at the heartless, and it wasn't faltering at all. _Come, on! There's gotta be a weak point somewhere! _ he thought. Then, ho looked once again at the heart, which looked like it was the source of all of the dark energy. He flew at high speed directly towards the phantom, which it didn't expect, and he sliced completely through the heart, cutting it in half.

The Phantom Shrieked with pain, and it stuck out its hand, and dark magic appeared there. _Oh, man, if that didn't do it, then nothing will!_ he thought. _I have to get out of here!_ and he quickly flew to where Kairi was lying on the tower, opened a hole, and while he was flying, grabbed Kairi and flew into the portal. _That was close. Wait, why was it after Kairi in the first place?…_

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Well, I hope you enjoyed it, and once again, I'm sorry it took so long. Well, I'm out, peace until next chapter! Review!


	10. Chapter 9: HalloweenTown

-1OK, wow! This is probably the longest it's ever taken me to write a chapter. How long's it been? A year? That's a lot of not writing. Anyway, this is the next chapter of Riku's story. It's Halloween Town. What? But I thought Halloween town was farther away from hollow bastion than Never land! Trust me, this was what I thought was best.

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Riku was on the ground in the Chapel of Hallow Bastion, panting. He had used an enormous energy transporting himself and Kairi from Never land to here. He was exhausted.

"You shouldn't rely on the darkness so heavily," Maleficent was telling him, "It could cost you your heart."

"Thanks for the heads up," Riku responded, ticked off that she didn't tell him earlier, "I'll remember that."

"Good," said Maleficent.

Roar! Roar!!!

"What was that?" Riku asked, surprised.

"A wandering heart; it came here after we destroyed his world, followed the princess."

"without a vessel?" Riku asked.

"Yes, it's amazing what the heart is capable of." Roar! Roar!! "Don't worry,' Maleficent said, noticing the concern on Riku's face. "He's no match for your power."

"My power?"

"Yes; the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it's time you awakened that power, and realized your full potential!" She raised her arms in the air. Riku saw an aura around himself and could feel the power of the darkness flowing through him.

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Riku looked at his surroundings, and immediately noticed that Hallow Bastion wasn't the darkest world there was. Halloweentown was bleak. Dark. Scary. Yes, Scary. That was the best word. It kind of reminded him of Halloween back on the islands. Scary decorations, spooky lightning, the works. He was quickly realizing that this world was very true to its name.

After Maleficent had awakened Riku's power, they began discussing on their plans for the finding of the final princess, and decided to travel to Halloweentown. This was not the first thing that came to mind, but Riku soon discovered that it was the last place available world for searching. When they got there, however, Riku found out that it was going to be difficult.

He looked at his clothing, and soon realized that he was out of place. He didn't look scary at all. "Maleficent," he asked, "I'm not gonna fit in like this. Think you can help with that?"

"of course." she responded. With a wave of her hand, Maleficent used her magic to fashion for Riku a suit. It was nearly skintight, and dark in color. The sleeves and sides of the torso were black, and the front and back was dark blue. It had red gloves with dark blue fingers. He wore boots on his feet that were also blue. Around his waist was a white sash that was tied with a blue belt and draped to his knees; it had a sort of raggedy look to it. But, the defining property, however, was the emblem of the heartless displayed over the chest.

Riku looked at the finished product. 'Perfect,' he thought

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He walked through the entrance to Guillotine Square, waiting. He had been hearing music, badly sung music, and he wanted to wait until it was over. When it seemed like it wouldn't let up, however, he thought, 'hell with it,' and entered the gate.

Inside the Square, there were many scary looking monsters, all of them singing and dancing, and having a good time. 'not like Halloween at home,' Riku thought. He looked around for something, anything, that could lead him to the princess. He saw a woman dressed like a witch in black in the crowd. 'A human?' he thought. She saw the logo on his chest and motioned to him too meet her towards the edge of the square, away from the crowd. Meanwhile, there was a scarecrow doing acrobatics while holding a torch.

Riku met the witch, who immediately introduced herself. "My is Lulu, and I am one of Maleficent's associates. She sent me here to look for the princess." While Riku suspected this, he also somewhat doubted it. Already, two people who claimed to be working for or with Maleficent had later revealed to be enemies of the sorceress. However, since he didn't have a way to prove that she was lying, he decided to believe her, for the moment.

"she told me that she would send someone to help, but she didn't say who.' Lulu elaborated.

"My name's Riku," Riku said. "so, where should we start?"

"If anyone knows where she is, Oogie will."

"Oogie?"

"Oogie Boogie. He's the resident Boogie Man. He's actually not that scary. I see you bear the heartless emblem on your chest so freely. If others knew about that, what would you do?"

"I think this was the best way to say that if anyone gets in the way of my goal, I'll destroy them."

"And your goal is?"

"To revive the heart of my friend, Kairi."

Lulu was actually starting to worry. 'so, this is the boy,' she thought, 'the one who Vincent and Paine were talking about. The one who controls the heartless.'

"Lulu?" Riku asked. "are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."

"Oh, sorry," she said. She hadn't realized that she was so deep in thought. "Let's go, shall we?" they walked the path from Guillotine Square to Oogie's Manor, and Lulu was surprised at the Heartless inhabiting the area. Then she remembered that he could control them.

Riku's ability to control the Heartless, as powerful as he was, was limited. He was worried that even though he was incredibly strong, some of the heartless would disobey him. He wanted to avoid that. He couldn't.

A group of Heartless, mostly wite nites and Gargoyles, appeared out of nowhere. 'damn,' Riku thought. He pulled out the Soul Eater, jumped in the air, and spun with his sword. In a flash of purple energy, all the heartless were destroyed.

"Wow," Lulu said, "Paine said you were strong, but I didn't think you were this strong." She soon realized her mistake.

Riku put his sword at her neck. "I knew you weren't working with Maleficent! That's why I warned you: don't get in my way."

"Sorry, I have to." she said. She pushed Riku with the Moogle that she used for a weapon, sending Riku flying. "Now, Kimahri!" A human-shaped panther with tribal-looking clothes and was holding a spear.

"So, you have a friend," Riku noticed. It doesn't matter, I'll destroy you both." he ran at Lulu, but he disappeared. He reappeared behind her, leaning foreword with his sword behind him. Before she realized what happened, she fell to the floor. Riku knew that Kimahri would be stronger, so he chose a more indirect approach. He stuck out his arm with his palm open. "Dark Firaga!" he yelled. A plume of dark fire emerged out of his hand and flew at high sped towards Kimahri.

Kimahri sliced through the fire like it was nothing, but in doing so, he had taken his eyes off of Riku. He was no where to be seen. Suddenly, Riku appeared behind Kimahri and tried to slash him but he dodged and stabbed at Riku with his spear. Riku dodged. He was realizing that these guys were going to be difficult.

He jumped backwards and grabbed the medallion around his neck. He called upon its energy. "Bruce!" he called. He was ready to summon Bruce the shark, given to him by Yuna. There was a white flash, and in a moment, a giant shark was floating in midair.

"Oh, 'ello, Riku." It said.

"I need you to help me, Bruce." Riku said. "These guys, they're bad people; they're trying to stop me from saving my friends."

Bruce hesitated, but only for a moment, because he smelled the blood from Lulu's cut. He went berserk. He immediately attacked where he smelled the blood. Lulu appeared to be defenseless, but as he approached, she said, "Thunder!" She used her magic to bring a lighting bolt from the sky and on top of Bruce. Riku called him back into the medallion.

'Damn!' he thought. 'I gotta get out of here or these guys are gonna beat me!' he opened up a portal of darkness with surprising ease. 'Huh, must be the new power,' he thought. He went into the portal, leaving Kimahri and Lulu alone.

"Damnit!" Lulu said, somewhat angrily. "He got away! Do you know what Maleficent could accomplish with him as an ally?"

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Riku appeared in the chapel. "You left me alone, again!" He said, somewhat angrily to Maleficent.

"I'm sorry, Riku," Maleficent answered, "I had to do some… research."

"What kind of research?" asked Riku.

"I have discovered…that Sora is not the true chosen master of the Keyblade. By some unknown force, the Keyblade missed its true target by a short distance, landing in Sora's hands, instead of yours. He's just meant to deliver it to you, give it extra power before it reaches its true chosen one."

"So, wait a minute… I'M supposed to have the key blade?" he asked.

"Well of course," Maleficent responded, "You didn't really think it would chose someone as weak as Sora, did you?"

Riku smirked. He might be able to save Kairi after all.

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BABOOM!!! Well, hope you like it. This is falkundude, signing off!


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